Richland County, Ohio - The whole text, 1908 (part 2 of 16)

The Leiter brothers were devout, godly men, Lut their meetings at the Zeiter church incited strong opposition. Its membership at that time was not noted for its spirituality. There were some devout, praying ones in the number. There were some who drank to excess, most indulged in the dram at logging, raisings and other frolics. Profanity was common in the church, and some regarded the protracted meetings as "too d - d Methodist." Division was created in the society. We went to the meeting one night and the hymn book was missing. The next night the Bible was gone, but the Leiters could hold meetings without Bible or hymn book. There were some conversions in the meeting. The two elements in the society separated, the more spiritual built the church in the Clay neighborhood west of the old church. We believe it remains, but the Zeiter church was useless as a spirtual or moral force and passed away.

A member of the Zeiter church, John Kunkleman, then lived on the farm immediately west of my father's farm. Father and myself were at work at one time near the Kunkleman fence, cutting a fallen oak into rail cuts. Kunkleman came to where we were at work. He was an honest, obliging neighbor, but would and did swear. While we were at work some one at the Haymaker place, southwest of where we were a half mile, went to drawing water at the well with the old-style windlass. It made a fearful screeching for want of lubrication. The screeching was distinctly heard where we were at work. Kunkleman remarked: 'There goes old Haymaker, d - n his old soul. He was deacon of our church last year, but d - n him, while he was deacon he couldn't collect money enough to buy grease to grease his old windlass. He used the name of deity several times to make his expletives stronger. We have never forgotten Kunkleman and _ that swearing. His combination of the serious and profane, the deaconship in his church with the greasing of that windlass was the most ludicrous we ever heard.

We married and moved from that locality in 1845, but the list of names Mr. Baughman gave as served by R. F. D. R. No. 1 was to us of great interest. Many new ones to us were given, many of the old remain, but many are

But he gives the old ghost story with the black-dog combination. About sixty years ago there was a chopping in the neighborhood west of the Zeiters church. Dan Wolf, a young Dutchman, attended the chopping. He carried a maul and a couple of iron wedges to use in the industry of the day. Returning home that night, a company of the young men and women had to pass that church and then turn north on the "big road" to reach their homes. Nearing the Flora place the story of that ghost and that black dog came up. Wolf averred boldly what he would do to that black dog with his maul if it came about him. At the proper juncture for testing his courage, one of the party exclaimed: "There is that black dog!" Wolf slung the maul from his shoulder, but didn't wait to extricate the two iron wedges from his pocket, but got away from that place at as nearly a two-forty gait as his good active legs could take him.

We notice the name of James Powell in the lst of persons served by that R. F. D. R. between the Zeiters church and the five corners. But then he is not the "Uncle Jimmy" Powell of our day. If we remember rightly, that James Powell had a son James. It may be he.

The week of the governor's election in October, 1844. the writer, with John Ward, William Palmer and Thomas Clingan. made a trip to Huron with wheat. Palmer and myself drove four-horse teams and old-style Pennsylvania wagons with covers. At Huron we loaded with goods for Tanner and Weldon, in Mansfield. On Ward's wagon, a two-horse rig without cover, we loaded a barrel of filberts, one of peanuts, and two barrels billed as wine. Reaching the two-mile house from Huron, we borowed a gimlet and tapped one of those barrels. Using a straw as a medium of conveying the wine from the barrel to the stomach. The barrels of nuts both had holes cut in their heads so one nut at a time could. be picked out. Palmer, Ward and myself, soon after leaving Huron, were on Ward's wagon, Ward sitting on the barrel of filberts. Palmer and Ward got into a scuffle. In the scuffle the head of the barrel was crushed in. I grabbed a part of it and threw it into a fence corner, and we delivered that barrel of nuts with the open head. John U. Tanner inquired as to how we lost the head of that barrel and proposed to weigh it, and charge us for the nuts missing. We plead off and promised not to repeat the act and he generously let us off.

In the road through the Johns farm we took our last drink of wine, plugged up the gimlet hole, drove the hoop back to its place, and so left the barrel without a visible scar. There were few barrels of wine or brandy hauled from the lake at that time but that were so tapped.

Passing the Powell place on Friday afternoon, the election having been held on Tuesday, we received our first news of how the election had gone in the election of Tom Corwin. "Uncle Jimmy" Powell had just returned from Mansfield and brought out the news. He was an ardent Whig, and, of course, was full of gladness over the success of his party. We stopped for a chat with Jane and Mary, and "Uncle Jimmy" generously loaded us with Rambo apples.

We went to Mansfield and drove into the Teegarden house yard for the night. While we were unharnessing our teams the fireballs began to fly on the square. Soon as we could we went up to enjoy the jollification. There were barrels of cider and gourds provided around the square and leading Democrats standing looking on aghast at the defeat of their party. But only think of waiting from Tuesday until Friday for news of the result of an election in Ohio. How changed the facilities for the transmission of news in the reach of a short lifetime.

Old-Time Sports

It may be interesting to the younger, as well as the older class of people, to recall some of the sports and pastimes of the early settlers of Richland county.

A commendable feature of pioneer sports was that utility was blended with amusement, social gatherings being cabin and barn raisings, log rollings, corn huskings, wood choppings and quilting parties. Rich and poor then met upon lines of social equality, and the old and young mingled alike in these old-time sports.

The people of those early days were helpful to each other not only in "raisings' and "rollings," requiring a force of men, but also in many other ways. If a man was incapacitated by sickness or other causes, his neighbors set a day and went in force and plowed his corn, harvested his grain or cut his wood for the winter. as the season required. .\nd when a pig, or a calf, or a sheep was killed in the summer, a piece of the meat was sent to each family in the neighborhood, who reciprocated in kind, and in this way all had fresh meat the greater part of the season.

Corn huskings were gala occasions. Frequently the ears were stripped from the stalks and hauled to a favorable place, where the unshucked ears were put in parallel or semi-circular windrows. Moonlight nights were usually chozen for husking occasions, and when the company gathered in the evening, captains were selected and the men chosen into two platoons, which competed in the husking work, each platoon trying to finish its pile or row first. At the finish the captain of the winning squad would be carried around on the shoulders of his men, amid their triumphal cheers, after which the bottle would be passed.

Women attended such gatherings, also, and sometimes assisted at the huskings, but were more frequently engaged during the early evening in quilting or sewing or knitting, and in helping to prepare the great supper feast which was served after the work was done.

There was a rule that a young man could kiss a girl for each red ear of corn found at a husking. It goes without saying that the girls all got kissed, some of them many times, for it was surprising how many red ears were found - so many that the number was prima facie evidence that some of the boys went to the gathering with their pockets full of red corn ears.

Nearly all of the pioneer gatherings wound up, after supper, with a dance, in which the old joined, as well as the young. When a fiddler could not be obtained, music was furnished by some one blowing on a leaf, or by whistling 'dancing tunes." This dancing was more vigorous than artistic. perhaps, for there were vigorous people in those days, effeminacy not Deca ing fashionable until later years.

The pioneers were industrious people. The situation required the men to chop and grub and clear the land ere they could plow and sow and reap. And the women had to spin and knit and weave and sew in addition to their household work. Upon one occasion a minister's wife was telling about her days work, that in addition to making a pair of pantaloons and a bed tick, "T've washed and baked and iron six pies today."

Wool had to be carded into rolls by hand, and after it was spun into yarn and the yarn woven into cloth, the flannel had to be thickened or fulled to make it heavier for men's wear. This necessitated "fulling" or "kicking" parties, an enjoyable line of amusement. Upon such occasions the web of flannel was stretched out on the puncheon floor and held loosely at each end, while men with bared feet and rolled up trousers sat in rows at each side. Then the women poured strong, hot soap suds on the web, while the men kicked it vigorously, making the white foam of the sud: fly over both kickers and attendants. This pouring and kicking lasted an hour or two, after which supper was served after the fashion of the times.

Carding and fulling mills and spinning and weaving factories came later, served their purpose and their time, and now they, too, are gone, and now people can go to stores and get '"hand-me-down" suits, without asking or caring where or how they were made.

While there were many social amusements in the early times, religious devotions were not neglected. As there were but few church buildings, camp meetings were frequently held during the summer months. While the Methodists and "Brethren" took the lead in these outdoor gatherings, the Christians (Disciples) held similar convocations, one of which was at the Bently spring, south of Mansfield. At that meeting Captain James Cunningham was baptized by immersion by Elder McVay. This was the first baptism by that denomination in Richland county.

Camp meeting trips were enjoyable to both old and young. The roads to these "camps" often ran by sequestered farms and through shady woodlands, where the rays of the sun shimmered through the leafy tree top:, and the fragrance of the June flowers sweetly perfumed the morning air.

At last glimpses of white tents could be seen, forming a semi-circle and surrounding an amphitheater of rude seats in front of a pulpit canopied by the boughs of trees. At the camp, visitors were received with cordial greetings, for the "campers'' had the warmth of friendship in their hearts and of Christian zeal in their souls, and their frank, unstudied manners and winsome ways were favorable preludes to the services that were to follow.

At these camp exercises some of the worshipers became quite demonstrative, for the personal manifestations of joy or devotion differ as much as our natures differ. No two persons give expression in precisely the same terms to any human experience; the law of temperament forbids it. Relig-

Singing was a prominent feature of the religious services. It was the old-fashioned singing, such as our dear old mothers sang, and although faulty, perhaps, in note, came from the heart and went to the heart. The singing of today may be more artistically rendered, but it is the old-time tunes that comfort us in our sorrow and sustain us in our trials, as they come back to us in sweet remembrance from the years that are past.

Whipping Posts

Judge William Wilson was the president judge of the court of common pleas for this circuit in the early history of Richland county, and presided at the first term of said court held in Mansfield. He was appointed to office by the legislaure at one of its sessions held in Chillicothe, and took his seat upon the bench in 1808. He held the office for three terms - twentyone years.

Wilson was the judge who instituted whipping posts in our. sister counties of Knox and Licking. To understand the instituting of whipping posts in Ohio, a brief sketch of the early judiciary must be given. On the 13th day of July, 1787, the Congress of the United States passed an ordinance for "The Government of the territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio river." Relative to the judiciary, the ordinance provided that there should be a court to consist of three judges, who, with the governor, should adopt and publish such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as might be necessary, and report them to Congress from time to time, which laws should be in force until the organization of the General Assembly, unless disapproved by Congress. The ordinance conferred no authority on the governor and judges to make laws, but only to adopt those in force in the original states, that might be deemed necessary and suitable to the condition of the territory and the circumstances of the same. Among other acts which were adopted was the whipping post law, under which Judge Wilson had John Courson and William Hedrick inhumanly flogged, the former at Newark and the latter at Mt. Vernon. The first session of the court of common pleas held at Mt. Vernon convened on the 2d day of May, 1808, with Judge Wilson as president judge. At this term of court, William Hedrick was found guilty of petit larceny, and was sentenced to be whipped with forty lashes on his bare back. There was a small leaning hickory tree at the east side of the public square, and to this the prisoner was taken and his hands were stretched up over his head and the lash was applied by the sheriff to his naked back. He was struck forty times with a heavy rawhide whip. The first few strokes were across the kidneys, whereupon, one of the bystanders called out to the sheriff to strike him on a less vital place, and the rest of the lashes were applied across the shoulders. The prisoner sobbed and cried piteously and when released went off groaning and weeping. In many places the skin was cut and the blood oozed out, making a pitiable spectacle of the poor culprit.

At a session of court in Newark in 1812, John Courson was convicted of stealing, and Judge Wilson sentenced him to receive fifty stripes "welllaid on," five the next morning, fifteen at noon and thirty the following day at noon. The prisoner was brought out from the jail and was tied with his hands upraised, somewhat as Hedrick's had been at Mt. Vernon. The whipping was done by the deputy sheriff, under the direction of the high sheriff. The first blow of the rawhide simply left a welt. '"Harder,"' cried the sheriff, and the deputy marked the four succeeding blows in distinct red lines on the poor fellow's naked back. The prisoner received this punishment without an audible groan; but when he returned for the succeeding infliction, his cries and screeches from the first stroke were heart rending. When returned to the jail he prayed that death might come to his relief before the next day. At noon, the day following, he was again taken out and thirty hard lashes were applied to his naked person. When he was returned to the prison, his back was in a lacerated condition and was bleeding from his shoulders to his hips.

Whipping. as a punishment for offenses. was generally in vogue in the more barbarous age of the world, but, as civilization spread and advanced. the whipping post was succeeded by more humane methods of punishment, and today "whipping laws" disgrace the statute books of but one state (Delaware) of the American Union. Not only in America. but across the seas Christian civilization has caused inhuman whipping post laws to be abolished in all the countries of Europe, except in England and Russia. In Russia the terrible punishment of the knout is inflicted on both penal criminals and political offenders.

To the credit of the state of Ohio it can be stated that the whipping post law was long. long ago repealed. And to the credit of Richland county, no such cruel punishment was ever decreed by its courts - not even by the infamous Wilson - and that its soil was never required to absorb blood drawn by the lash from mortal man.

Among Old Records

Richland county's official records are invaluable to the people; how thev are preserved and protected is of vital import to the taxpayers, and how they are kept and by whom, may be of interest to the general reader.

Aside from their monetary value, relative to the rights and titles to property, and other interests, the county records are valuable to the historian, who gleans from their pages dates and data to weave as woof in the web of history.

The annalist can search the numerous volumes from 1813 to 1899, obtain dates and arrange county historical events chronologically for those eighty-six intervening years, simply giving facts, without attemping to fathom motives, show causes or to state sequences or give results.

Here, too, the essayist can find topies for papers and compositions and articles, and the moralist can "draw lessons' from the events and happenings of other years. And the novelist can gather material, not only to found

And the lawyer, looking for local decisions and rulings, scans the court journals page by page, to learn how certain points of law had been construed by the judges of the past. But, if the case is in chancery, 'tis folly to search for precedents, for equity is said to be "a roguish thing; for law we have a measure, know what to trust, while equity is according to the conscience of him that is chancellor, and as that is larger or narrower, so is equity."

As the years that span the interim between the organization of Richland county and the city of Mansfield multiply in number, the interest in the doings of that period increases and the early records become more valuable.

When the books and papers were removed from the old courthouse into the present one, in January, 1873, loads of old books and papers were placed in a room in the Lasement of the new building; but, like most basement rooms, this was damp, and the books and papers soon became moldy. They were recently taken out and, being quite voluminous, were assorted, the more important part being given room in the auditor's office and the remainder placed in a room that had been made when the gallery waz put in the common pleas courtroom to improve its acoustics.

As a matter of fact, the public records of Richland county have been well kept and are in good state of preservation. In the auditor's office the journal of the first board of county commissioners (1813) is as legible a: of vore, and the leaves are in good condition, but yellowed by time. The same can be stated of the book in the clerk's office, containing the first record, dated Saturday. August 28, 1813. And, in the recorder's office, the book containing the original record of the first deed in the county, is in fair condition.

It is true the courthouse has already cost in round figures a quarter of a million of dollars, but that should not bar the expenditure of a few hundred more needed for protection from fire.

The oldest record in Richland county is the journal of the first board of counitty commissioners, and the first entry shows that "A board of commissioners met at Mansfield on Monday, June 9, 18138. Present: Samuel McCluer and Samuel Watson." At this meeting Andrew Coffinberry was appointed clerk.

The journal is in the auditor's office, has been re-bound and although the book is eighty-six vears old, it is in a good state of preservation and the writing is quite legible.

28, 1818, and the first record of business transacted was the issuing of letters of administration in the estate of Lewis Jones to Jonathan Coulter and Rebecca Boyce, and the appraisers appointed were Win Winship and George Coffinberry. Settlement of estates was then within the province of the court of common pleas.

The first deed recorded in the county was on July 30, 1814, and was from James Madison, then president of the United States, to James Hedges, made October 2d, 1812, and conveyed the southwest quarter section 22, of township 21, and of range 18, of the lands directed to be sold at Canton by the act of congress, entitled, '"An act providing for the sale of lands of the United States in the territory northwest of the Ohio."

The oldest city record in City Clerk Remy': office bears date of April 9. 1834, and is in the original entry made by the late Judge Charles T. Sherman, who was then village recorder. Judge Sherman was the brother of the Hon. John Sherman and the father-in-law of General Miles. John H. Hoffman was then mayor of the village. Hoffman died years ago, but his son is in the jewelry business in Plymouth.

The general assembly of the state of Ohio on the 24th day of February, A. D., 1828, passed an act for the incorporation of the village of Mansfield, but there is no record showing an organized village government until April 9, 1834, six vears after the passage of the legislative act authorizing its organization.

The first ordinance passed was entitled "An ordinance to prevent obstructions in the streets and allevs and other public grounds, and for the removal of nuisances."

Since 1857 the city records have been well preserved, but prior to that they are meagre and incomplete. Clerk Remy has gathered up the fragments and filed them away.

Coming from the old to the curious, there is a will on file in the probate court, wherein the old-style form of ''Benevolent Father" is changed to "Benevolent Mother," making it read: 'In the name of the Benevolent Mother of us all," etc. The will was drawn by the late Squire John G. Stanton, then a justice of the peace for Worthington township. and was executed March 24, 1887. It was the will of Lucetta Sowers in favor of her son, Augustus Sowers, giving him a tract of land containing forty acres, situate in Worthington township, and being a part of section 21, range 17. The will was probated April 26, 1890.

On February 10, 1858, the late Allen B. Beaverstock, of Lexington, bought of George B. Wright, as receiver of the S. M. & N. R. R., a tract of one hundred and twenty acres of land, situate in Troy township, being a part of section 13, range 19. The tract was principally swamp land. There was a snake story connected with the land, that the swamp was the habitat of a mammoth rattlesnake, of such enormous size and strength that it could

In buying the land Beverstock wanted the snake included, as an appurtenance, and had not only a clause inserted to that effect, but a pen sketch of the reptile drawn upon the face of the deed, the picture upon the record being over ten inches in length. Rattlesnakes have been arranged into three genera, and the Troy township monster was of the class called "Crotalidae horridus.'"' This species sometimes attain to six feet in length, with a girt measurement of from fifteen to twenty-five inches, but the snake mentioned in this transfer is said to have been much larger. The color of the back is gray mixed with yellow, with a longitudinal row of black spots bordered with white. The rattlesnake owes its name to a remarkable pecullarity in its structure; the extremity of the tail is furnished with small horny cells, articulated one into the other, and number fifteen or over.

When the snake advances these little capsules resound slightly, lke the dry husks of beans, which still retain their seeds, thus giving notice of the approach of this terrible enemy. The sibilant rattle of these appendages is not very loud, but it may be heard about thirty paces off and announces the approach of the reptile while it is still at a distance.

It is generally agreed that rattlesnakes seldom attack men, except in self-defense, but they are very venomous and have been known to spurt their venom to the distance of three feet.

What became of the snake is not upon record, but a story is told of a young man, who, having heard that snakes can be charmed by music, took his fiddle and watched for an opportunity to try the experiment, but when he saw the snake appear, the man took a precipitate flight from fright.

Chateaubriand, the author, narrates an instance of a Canadian who charmed a rattlesnake by playing on the flute. The reptile first made a movement expressive of surprise, gradually drew its head backwards, closed its mouth, its eyes lost their sharpness, and took in wilder concentric circles, and, turning its head slowly toward the musician, assumed pleased attention. The Canadian then walked slowly away, drawing low and monotonous tones from the flute, and the snake crawled slowly after the musician, stopping when he stopped, and following him when he moved away.

From the year 1855 to 1867, Allen Beverstock bought twenty-nine farms or tracts of land in Troy township, and his descendants are people of means at Lexington today.

About Old Photographs

N. J. Beck, 107 Wood street, this city, has collections of photographs taken prior to and just after the Civil war, that are historically valuable. Mr. Beck was inthe photograph business during the periods mentioned, and the pictures - six hundred and ninety in number - were taken at his gallery. A few of these will be briefly noticed.

In one of the groups are photographs of Governor Mordecai Bartley, Judge James A. Stewart, John M. May, Colonel Barnabas Burns, James Hervey Cook, John A. Lee, James Purdy, Salathiel Coffinberry, John Wiler, and many others who have "gone hence." There is a photograph of Schuyler Colfax, taken in Mansfield, when he was a candidate for vice president on the ticket with General Grant, in 1868. Colfax was an able, brilliant man, but his political star went down on account of his alleged connection with the "Credit Mobilier'' affair.

In a group is a picture of the late Bishop Bedell, with his patriarchal appearance. The Bishop is held in sacred memory by church people everywhere, especially in the diocese of Ohio. His works on the "Divinity of Christ," and "The Sacredness of the Grave," cannot be too highly commended.

The Rev. J. R. Burgett, an Olivesburg man, was the pastor of the Presbyterian church in this city in 1857-8. He removed to Mobile, Ala., was an alleged sympathizer with the South in the war of the Rebellion, and was a passenger on the ocean steamer with Mason and Slidell, rebel commissioners, who were captured while on their way to Europe, by a United State: man-of-war.

An attractive picture in a group is that of Mrs. Mary Sherman Miles, wife of General Miles, taken when she was eighteen years old. She was a very popular young lady and very handsome. Her father, Judge Charles T. Sherman, then lived on the northeast corner of Park avenue and Mulberry streets. A sister of Mrs. Miles married Senator Don Cameron. of Pennsylvania. Her brother, Henry Sherman, was adjutant of the 120th O. V. I. He is now dead.

Here, too, can be seen the likeness of Mrs. Altgeld. widow of the late Governor J. P. Altgeld, of Jllinois. Her maiden name was Ford. Governor and Mrs. Altgeld were both reared in Richland county. were schoolmates for a number of years and were lovers from their youth.

John S. B. Mat<on, a son of Uriah Matson, one of the pioneers of Jackson township, Richland county. was a member of the 120th O. V. I. He now resides in Shelby with his daughter, Mrs. Skiles, widow of the late Congressman W. W. Skiles. Mr. Matson has a large collection of curios and relics.

The handsome portrait of Williard S. Hickox recalls the time when he was very prominent in social, political and financial circles. He filled a number of positions, was county auditor and later was president of a bank and also president of the Coldwater railroad, but in 1873 financial conditions became strained and Hickox went down, as did his bank, also. Later he removed to the Pacific Slope, where he died several years ago.

Perhaps but few remember George Duffner, the old tailor, who had his shop in the Dickson building for many years. The easy-going expression of the picture shows that Mr. Duffner's life was a pleasant one, although humble.

close of the Civil war, opened a law office on the north side of the public square, and a few years later was elected mayor of Mansfield by the Republican party. He later removed to Cleveland and is now dead.

Homer Lee, a son of the late John A. Lee, reversed Horace Greeley's advice to go West and grow up with the country. Homer went East and won a fortune.

The Rev. James Trimble was the rector of Grace Episcopal church, Mansfield, from 1864 to 1869, and is kindly remembered by the older parishioners.

A picture of Samuel Cutting recalls a popular landlord of the past. Mr. Cutting was a Penobscot Yankee and came from Maine to Ohio in the Thirties and settled at Bellville. He also kept hotel in Mansfield for a number of years. He was the landlord of the Cutting House before, during, and after the Civil war. He was upright, honorable and charitable, but eccentric.

Mr. Beck was a member of the 120th O. V. I. in the Civil War. His. clerical attainments caused him to be taken from the ranks and placed in the quartermaster's department. He has souvenirs in the way of orders and recommendations which show and attest the fact of his efficiency.

The Monroe Seminary Of Long Ago

The Monroe seminary was one of the most successful schools ever conducted in Richland county. It was situate in the southwestern part of Monroe township, and was founded by the late Rev. Richard Gailey, in May, 1851.

In 1849 the Rev. Richard Gailey became pastor of three United Presbyterian congregations in the county, known as "Monroe," "Troy" and "Pine Run." The Monroe congregation previously had a house for worship in Worthington township, near Traxler's, on the road leading from Bellville to Newville. The pastor of that Worthington church was the Rev. James: Johnson. who was the United Presbyterian minister in Mansfield from 1821 until his death in 1858. The second minister at Worthington was the Rev. George Wilson, who later went to the Baptist denomination and published a book on baptism by immersion, which created considerable comment at the time.

When a new building was needed a site was selected in Monroe township, three miles north, which was considered more central for the members. A substantial brick edifice was built, which is yet standing and used at present as a place of worship for a congregation of the denomination known as the Disciples of Christ.

Roads cross and diverge to five towns from the Monroe church - eight miles to Mansfield and four miles each to Lucas, Newville, Bellville, and Butler. The location is a pleasant one at the head of a little valley, where pure water flows abundantly from several springs.

The Rev. Richard Gailey was an Irishman, who came to America when he was twenty-one years of age, took a collegiate course, and then entered the ministry of the United Presbyterian denomination, and after becoming the pastor of the Monroe church conceived the idea of conducting a school in addition to his ministerial duties. He was never so happy as when engaged in teaching, whether in the schoolroom or in the church. He was a great worker, and after teaching his classes by day frequently rode miles to preach in some schoolhouse in the evening. He was honest and earnest, but conservative and collected. His delivery was pleasant, his language well chosen and his diction pure, his aim being more to instruct and convince rather than to please or amuse.

The church building was at first used for recitation purposes, after the seminary was started, but a schoolhouse was soon built upon the glebe. The seminary grew and prospered until students were in attendance not only from other counties, but also from other states. Farmers opened their homes to the students and boarded and lodged them.

After conducting the seminary sucessfully for ten years Mr. Gailey removed to Lexington, where the same work was continued with even greater success, until his death in 1875

While many of the students of the Monroe seminary later attained position and- prominence, space will permit of only a few being mentioned here.

The Hon. John M. Henderson, now a prominent lawver of Cleveland, was a Monroe seminary pupil, as was also George L. Reed, of Kansas, and his brother, Hugh F. Reed, of Colorado Springs. A number of young men were there prepared for the ministry and are now filling imporiant positions. Jerry Needham, of Troy township, was a pupil of Myr. Gailey's after the academy was removed to Lexington.

This imperfect sketch is not intended as a history of the Monroe seminary. It is only a desultoryv sketch of an institution of learning that was a benefit not only to its students, but also to the community at large. for it created an interest in educational matters that was lke unto bread cast upon the waters in its after results.

There is a cluster of houses still near the old seminary site. The Gailey residence is now the hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Thompson, and a home it is indeed, for there peace, plenty and happiness abide and abound.

The Centennial Anniversary of the Founding of Mansfield Appropriately Celebrated Under the Auspices of the Richland County Historical Society, Thursday, June 11, 1908.

At the annual meeting of the Richland County Historical Society, held in Mansfield, June, 1906, a Centennial commission was created to arrange for and conduct a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the founding of Mansfield. The commission was composed of the following gentlemen: Hon. Huntington Brown, Peter Bissman, M. B. Bushnell, A. J. Baughman,

Captain A. C. Cummins, R. G. Hancock, T. B. Martin, Rev. F. A. Schreiber and Charles H. Voegele. Huntington Brown was chosen president of the commission and A. J. Baughman, secretary. During the year 1907, Captain A. C. Cummins resigned and was succeeded by General R. Brinkerhoff.

A few months after the creation of the commission, the old log blockhouse that had been built on the public square in 1812, by the soldiers of the war of 1812, was purchased and removed to the courthouse grounds, where it was reerected partly as an advertisement of the contemplated Centennial celebration, but chiefly as a memorial to the pioneers of Richland county and the soldiers of the war of 1812.

At first it was thought to hold the celebration for a number of days, but owing to a financial depression that existed at the time, it was deemed best to confine the festivities to one day. The morning of the day of June 11th dawned auspiciously ushering in an ideal day. The crowd which came to the city was simply immense, being conservatively estimated at from twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand. The following account of the day and exercises are taken from the Mansfield papers. The following is from the Mansfield News:

With impressive ceremonies the city of Mansfield today takes cognizance of the fact that it has reached the end of the first century of its history and now enters the second century of its life.

This centennial anniversary marks an important epoch in the city's history and the celebration arranged for this occasion drew the interest not alone of present residents of Mansfield but attracted to the city many former residents who had not been here for years, and drew large crowds from the surrounding towns and country.

Early in the morning the crowds began gathering in the vicinity of Central Park and by 9 o'clock the park and nearby streets were filled with people who enjoyed the band concert which was given in the park and which continued while the procession was being formed for the parade.

At 10 o'clock there was a programme of addresses in front of the blockhouse, the speakers standing on the courthouse steps where a large audience had gathered.

In connection with the exercises which took place at the blockhouse immediately after the band concert in Central Park, the following address was delivered by General R. Brinkerhoff:

One hundred years ago, on the 11th day of June, 1808, the city of Mansfield, whose history we celebrate today, was located, laid out and named by James Hedges, Joseph Larwell and Jacob Newman. They agreed to name the new town Mansfield after the then surveyor general of the United States, Colonel Jared Mansfield, under whose instructions Hedges and his companions were working. The original plat of the city was a square, of which the public square, now known as the Central Park, was the center. It extended north one block beyond Fourth street, south across Ritter's Run one block beyond First street; east one block beyond Water street, and west one block beyond Mulberry street. From this small beginning the city has grown during the century to its present population of over twenty thousand, and a fair probability of an annual increase of a thousand more for many years . to come. ,

The first house in Mansfield was a log cabin built by Samuel Martin on lot 97, where the dry goods store of H. L. Reed Co. is now located, and it was the only house built in 1808. Ohio at that time was largely a wilderness, and in Richland county there were less than a dozen settlers. The 'growth of Mansfield has been steadily northward and westward, and its center of population today is near the Mansfield Savings bank, on the northwest corner of Main and Fourth streets.

During the war of 1812 two block houses were erected on the public square as a protection against the Indians. One was of round logs and the other of hewed logs, the latter standing near the center of the north side of the park. After the war, or rather before the war ended, this hewed block house was used for the first courthouse in the county. The preparation of this block house for a courthouse is officially warranted and preserved in the commissioners' records under the date of June 10, 1813, which state: that "the commissioners proceeded to examine the block house in Mansfield, and to order the same to be prepared for the reception of the court. and that the lower part of the same be prepared for the reception of prisoners as a jail. And do further order that the said lot of carpenter work be sold to the lowest bidder on the 24th day of July inst. whicud sale is advertised accordingly."

On the 4th of August following the bids were opened and Luther Coe was the lucky man. His bid was $46.00 with an additional $2 for the construction of a handrail for the outside stairway. This building is the one before which we are now assembled, and in the main is what it was when first occupied 'by the court on August 13, 1813, and for the three following years, until a new courthouse was completed. On December 3, 1816, by order of the commissioners "the two block houses standing on the public equare were set up at public auction and were bid off as follows: the hewn log house to Alexander Curran at $56.40 and the round log house to Jacob Snider at $20."

The new courthouse was built of hewn logs and answered its purpose about ten years, when in 1827 a new courthouse of brick was built and occupied, with some additions and improvements, until 1873 when the present courthouse, located east of the square, was occupied.

Mansfield during the century in all directions. Instead of log cabins comfortable homes, owned for the most part by those who occupy them, are found on all our streets; our churches in number and architecture are not surpassed and, so far as I know, are not equaled by any other city of its size in the state. Our school buildings, also in number, structure and management are widely recognized and commended. In short, our city as a whole is creditable to those who have contributed to its development in the past century, and we are not ashamed to commend it to those who come after us.

Mansfield, outside of its material development, has much to commend it in the years that are gone. Certainly in men of ability in all the departments of human endeavor, no city of its size has furnished a larger number; and for legislators and judges in state and nation there are few, if any, even co: the larger cities in Ohio, that have done as well.

God Almighty has so arranged and constituted the nature of things that nothing great or good or strong in matter or mind, comes to the earth except it comes through -truggle and through storm. It is this law and the struggle under it which has made Ohio, of all the states in the Union, foremost in war and in the councils of the nation. .

Long before another centennial day shall be celebrated in this place vou and I who are gathered here today will have passed away, and our children also will have passed away. Even our tombstones will be mossgrown and crumbling, but we may, if we will, keep our memory green by transmitting to that generation unimpaired the faith and liberty received from our fathers.

Now in conclusion, to those who may assemble in Mansfield a hundred vears hence, as we are today, we send greeting, and bid them to love God and their country and transmit untarnished to their children the blessings they have received.

At the conclusion of General Brinkerhoff's address he introduced Judge Edwin Mansfield, who spoke of the importance of the epoch which this event marked and referred in a touching manner to the hardships endured by the early: settlers of Mansfield. He contrasted the block house, which served as Richland county's first courthouse, with the present stru:tuve. The address was one of decided interest and was followed by much applause.

During the Centennial parade, much interest was centered in the three Mexican war veterans occupying a carriage in the parade. They were Samuel Wirts, Jacob Ovster and William Ferguson. Messrs. Wirts and Oyster were members of Captain George Weaver's Company D, Fourth Regiment, and although they had served together during the war, Centennial dsy was their first meeting since they had been discharged from the service in 1847. Their meeting after a s:paration of sixty-one years was a very pleasant one, as each was possessed of a fair degree of |Lealth, strenucus war service and advanced age being considered.

Centennial Notes

Among the interesting characters in attendance at the c2ntennial celebration is Louis C. Haves, of Jackson township, who handles the bass drum in the Hayes' drum corps, which participated in the parade. Mr. Hayes was born May 21, 1839. He has been in the blacksmith, wagon and carriage business for more than fifty years and has been a Ma'on for forty-two years. For twenty-seven years he has been a memb:r of Mansfield Commandery No. 21, Knights Templar, and has missed only a few meetings in all of that time. He belongs to the Metkodist church and has spent his entire life on the farm where he now resides.

As a boy he was a passenger on the first free excursion that was run on the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark railroad. He holds a commission as lieutenant in the state militia, which was issued to him by Governor Todd near the close of the civil war.

Among the pioneers of Mansfield whose descendants still reside here were Samuel Carrothers and his family who came to Mansfield in 1815 and located on he northwest corner of Fourth and Diamond streets. The elder Carrothers lived there until his death, June 20, 1865, at the age of eighty-six. Samuel L. Carrothers was born on that corner May 12, 1819, and at his death, January 24, 1902, aged eighty-three, was the oldest man in Mansfield who was born here. He lived here his entire life and within a stone's throw of where he was born, his son, John C. Carrothers, still residing in the home where his father lived so many years, at the southwest corner of Fourth and Franklin avenue.

The museum in the Memorial building was open during the entire day and many people took advantage of this opportunity to make an inspection of it.

Congressman J. Ford Laning arrived in the city from Norwalk at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon and proceeded at once to the afternoon meeting at the opera house.

Merchants and citizens showed their interest in the celebration by decorating their stores, homes and lawns and the city presented a very attractive scene with its profuse display of flags and red, white and blue bunting.

Chief Weil of the police department and Chief Knofflock of the fire department, headed the procession in Chief Knofflock's buggy. Then came the city's finest, with military step and swinging clubs.

Major Marquis, Captain Hastings and Lieutenant Beverstock followed on horseback and then came the Mansfield City band followed by Company M in command of Captain W. S. Bradford, making a fine appearance in their dressy uniforms.

A long line of automobiles followed, containing members of the Richland County Historical Society, speakers, members of the Centennial commission and guests of honor, who included a number of pioneers.

One of the most interesting features of the procession was the presence of three Mexican war veterans in the parade, who rode in B. Frank Palmer's carriage in the rear of the G. A. R. They were Samuel Wirts of Madison township, Jacob Ovster, of Jefferson township, and William Ferguson of this city.

The German Pioneer Society followed the soldiers and had a large turnout. The German pioneers had much to do with the growth and development of the city and they attracted considerable attention along the line of march.

Next in the parade were the firemen and apparatus from the thre> fire stations of the city. There were five pieces of apparatus in the procession and the firemen made a splendid appearance. The three sections were in charge of the different captains; Captain Marks of No. 1 Station, Captain Bell of No. 2 station and Captain Longsdorf of No. 3 station.

The little folks from the Children's home in their holiday attire rode in the procession in a decorated wagon. The children attracted a great deal of attention.

Historical Society

Immediately following the parade there was a short meeting of the Richland County Historical Society at the G. A. R. hall at which General Brinkerhoff presided and during which an address was delivered by John C. Burns of Chicago, a former Mansfield attorney.

The afternoon centennial program was opened by the drum corps, which played in front of the Memorial Opera House. The crowd soon began to assemble about the building. By the time the speaking began the house was comfortably filled.

ety, members of the ministerial association and the musicians. General R. Brinkerhoff was the chairman of the meeting. After the invocation by Dr. D. J. Meese, General Brinkerhoff introduced the most important speaker of the day, Hiram Smith, Mansfield's grand old man. ;

Mr. Smith was greeted with rounds of applause. Many had come just to hear this noted man. It is doubtful if any in the house had ever before listened to an address by a man of Mr. Smith's age. The address was well delivered, Mr. Smith's voice béing so strong and clear it could be distinctly heard in all parts of the house. The crowd paid Mr. Smith the utmost courtesy by the close attention it gave him. Mr. Smith spoke in part as follows:

Asa Smith and Hannah Richmond Smith, my father and mother, moved from Seneca county, New York, in the spring of 1810 and settled on the banks of Lake Erie at Huron, Ohio, where I was born January 7, 1813. Before and during the war of 1812 the settlers experienced a great many hardships and their lives were in constant danger from the Indians. At the first election in Huron, Ohio, Asa Smith was elected justice of the peace. My father died in 1816.

On the fourth of July, 1824, my sister, Clarrissa Smith, was married to Hugh McFall, of Mansfield, and about two months later, in September of the same year, she had me, her youngest brother, then only eleven years of age, come to Mansfield and make my home with her.

Mr. McFall was one of the early merchants of Mansfield and he came here in 1820. He took me into the store to do chores. I went to school in the winter. Mvy teacher was Alexander Barr. The schoolhouse was on the north side of East Fourth street, near the big spring. The boys had tc take turns in chopping wood and building fires, and the girls in sweeping in the schoolroom at noon. I finished my education under Judge James Stewart's school on Park avenue west.

In 1828 James Hedges was a member of the Ohio legislature and through his influence. Hugh McFall was made a presidential elector for this congressional district. In January, 1829, Hugh McFall went to Columbus and cast his vote for Andrew Jackson for president. Mr. McFall made the trip on horseback as there were no stages running at that time.

On his return he brought a small keg of oysters in his saddle bags, the first oysters ever received in Mansfield. The keg contained about three quarts. We had a good deal of trouble in eating them as we did not know which end of the oyster to put in our mouths first, but with the assistance of our neighbors we got them all eaten.

General Andrew Jackson was inaugurated president March 4, 1829, and a short time thereafter Hugh McFall received the appointment of postmaster which he filled during Jackson's two terms.

I was appointed deputy postmaster and had special charge of the office. In 1830 there had accumulated a surplus of funds in the office of twelve hundred dollars. We received an order from the postoffice department at Washington to deposit the money in the Franklin bank of Columbus. Stages were not yet running. The money being all in silver, the bulk was both large and heavy. Mr. McFall having been over the road so lately explained the way to go and the stopping places. My first stop was Fredericktown where I got my horse fed and dinner at Abner Ayer's hotel. From Fredericktown there was a new road cut through to Sunbury in Delaware county which was very thinly settled. At one place it was five miles between cabins.

The first night I stopped at Mr. Potter's Tavern near the west line of Knox county. Mr. Potter in taking the saddle bags of the horse remarked, "Young man this is very heavy.' I explained to Mr. Potter the contents and requested him to put the saddle bags in a safe place. The next morning I started off all right. As the sun was going down I came to a cross road and learned from the guide board that it was nine miles to Columbus and two miles to Worthington. I realized that I could not get to Columbus until late in the night, so I went to Worthington which was a new town laid out by Colonel Kilbourn who entertained travelers. When I rode up to the house Mr. Kilbourn came out and took the saddle bags off the horse. He made the same remark that Mr. Potter had made.

The next morning I rode into Columbus and made my deposit in the Franklin bank and remained there until the next morning looking around the city and through the first statehouse built in Columbus.

The first stage line through Mansfield was established by Marsh & Barney. Mr. Marsh kept the first hotel in Sandusky and Mr. Barney lived in Mt. Vernon. They ran road wagons with canvas covers and carried all kinds of merchandise and passengers. They ran from Sandusky through Norwalk, New Haven, Mansfield, Mt. Vernon to Delaware and made a round trip once a week. About 1831 Neal, Moore & Company established a daily line of stages from Columbus through Mt. Vernon, Mansfield and Norwalk to Sandusky. About two years later a line of stages was established from Pittsburg through New Lisbon, Canton, Wooster to Mansfield and a few vears later was extended to Bucyrus. i

The old main line of stages was from Philadelphia through Laneaster, Harrisburg, Carlisle and Bedford to Pittsburg. On the National road from Baltimore to Wheeling, Columbus and continued on west and from Albany to Buffalo. They ran day and night. The driver carried a way bill with the names of every passenger.

In those days the only mode of travel was by water, stage and horseback. The first steamboat on Lake Erie was called "Walk in the Water." She was a medium sized boat with a stern wheel. In those days there were no commercial travelers and we were compelled to go to eastern cities to buy our goods. Such articles as iron, nails and glass we bought in Pittsburg. John T. Creigh and Jerry Jaques each ran a reguiar line of big wagons of six horses between Mansfield and Pittsburg and supplied all the towns on their route.

Before the days of canals and railroads I used to take the stage through to Philadelphia and buy our goods and load them up in big Pennsylvania wagons, six horses to a wagon and have them hauled to Mansfield. We had to pay from five to six dollars for every one hundred pounds. Upon

At that time a great many swamps produced cranberries. There was a large one a short distance west of Plymouth in this county. Ginseng. was in great demand for Chinese trade. There was great difficulty in those days in having freight transported to the West from the Eastern cities.

The first railroad in Pennsylvania was from Philadelphia to Columbia. The first railroad from Baltimore, the Baltimore & Ohio, was built to Elicott's Mills, then we had to take the stage to Wheeling, then continue on to Mansfield. The first railroad in the state of New York was from Albany to Schenectady. There was a stationary engine to haul the cars to the top of the hill at Albany and another to let them down to Schenectady on the bank of the river.

After the opening of the New York canal I would take a steamer at Sandusky to Buffalo, quit the steamer at Buffalo and then take the canal. At Weedsport I would take a hack to Auburn to buy carpenter tools made at the Auburn penitentiary. Returning to Weedsport I would take the canal to Albany thence by steamer to New York city.

At one time J took a steamer at Buffalo for Sandusky in the evening. It was in the spring of the vear and the ice was not all out of the lake. In the morning we found the steamer was anchored at the head of Grand Island in Niagara river. During the night a lot of floating ice had carried the boat down the river and we had to remain there until the ice had sufficiently passed to let the boat go up stream. At another time I left Buffalo in the evening for Sandusky. During the night the steamboat encountered a very severe storm. The passengers were all put down in the cabin. They could neither walk nor sit without holding to something. Every article of furniture that was not nailed fast kept rolling from one side of the cabin to the other. After daylight it was ascertained that the vessel was lying off Erie, Pennsylvania, and it was several hours before the boat could get into port. As soon as the boat reached the dock the passengers all disembarked and procured wagons to take them to Conneaut from which place the Lake Shore road had just commenced running to Cleveland. The passengers all rejoiced when they got on land.

On another trip to New York in the spring I took a steamer at Sandusky. We found a large amount of floating ice and the further we went down the lake the more it increased until we got entirely blockaded and could not go any further and the ice followd the boat. Next morning we found we were about a mile from the Canadian shore and opposite Buffalo. The captain sent two men to the shore to let us know whether it was safe. As soon as they reached the shore they hoisted a flag, all right. Then the passengers gathered up their baggage and started for the shore. The trunks they hauled on the ice with ropes. Then we had to hunt up farmers enough to haul us to the Niagara river opposite Buffalo.

In 1851 I was going from Boston to New York and I took the cars to Newport, Rhode Island, at which place I took passage on the steamer Bay State. They Jeft Newport in the evening and shortly after they got under

Way supper was served. My attention was attracted to a family sitting opposite me at the table. The family consisted of father, mother and seven children, four girls and three boys. After supper I got engaged in conversation with the gentleman and learned that he and his wife were natives of Connecticut but had removed to Wisconsin soon after their marriage and that this was the first time they had been back to visit their old home. The boat seemed to be well filled with passengers. About the middle of the night there was a great explosion which awakened all of the passengers. This was followed by cries. I got up as soon as I could to ascertain what had happened and there beheld one of the worst sights I ever saw. There lying on mattresses on the floor were three of the Wisconsin young ladies and two large men. The boiler had exploded beneath their state rooms and scalded them with steam. They covered their faces and hands with sweet oil and flour and the skin and flour would all roll off together. The captain shot off rockets to call other boats on the Sound to our assistance. About daylight there came alongside a boat and took us all to new York. On arrival they took the three ladies and the two men direct to the hospital. The next morning the city papers gave a full account of the disaster and said that the three young ladies from Wisconsin and the two men were dead.

During the vears from 1825 to 1835 the Wyandot Indians used to come to Mansfield to do their trading. They made very fine maple sugar and made bark buckets that held about fifty pounds. They would strap them together and put them across their horses and bring the sugar to Mansfield to trade for goods.

Judge N. M. Wolfe spoke on Patriotic and Civic Pride. The Judge said he felt unfit to speak at a centennial celebration, especially to follow Hiram Smith. He said it was unnecessary for him to name the ancestry of the city.

Judge Wolfe gave several good definitions for civic pride. He said that every citizen should foster civic pride in his own city. "Our first and best city is Mansfield," he continued. 'Our first duty is to it. This civic pride should extend to our neighbors." Judge Wolfe then went back to the civic pride of the pioneers of Mansfield. He paid a tribute to the patriotism of the pioneers of Richland county. .

Professor C. L. Martzolff of Athens University, the oldest college west of the Alleghenies and north of the Ohio, spoke on Ohio in History. The professor is an orator and delivered a very finished address. He first turned the attention of his hearers to the geological history of the state, telling how natural resources lured' the emigrants to happy homes along the fertile rivers. In developing the resources of the state, the pioneers did not forget to raise men who were to be worthy to develop the state.

The professor gave his audience an instructive history of the cosmopolitan life which produced so many great men. He paid due tribute to each nationality which settled within the borders of Ohio and cited the influence each left on the state. The intermingling of this blood puts Ohio ~ to the front with great men and women.

Professor Martzolff gave a most instructive talk on the history of the state and gave it in such a comprehensive way that it will long be remembered.

James P. Seward gave a practical talk on Mansfield in History. He first spoke of the humble birth of Mansfield and said the village grew in wisdom and ability with years. After giving a brief history of Mansfield, "Mr. Seward said he was not: gifted in prophecy enough to foretell the future. But he spoke of the happy homes and the contented people. He said the future of Mansfield or any city must depend upon the soil. It was customary to boom the city, but he thought it better to boom the country on which the city depends. It is to the country, he said, to which we must look for future prosperity.

Mr. Seward then gave the legislature a sharp rap for burdening the citizens with unnecessary laws. The laws of the municipality, he declared, 'are one thing today, another tomorrow.

Hon. W. S. Kerr spoke on the noted men of Richland county. He said the really great men of the county were the first settlers, though their names might not appear on the pages of history. Mr. Kerr had a limited roster of noted names which he gave with reasons why he considered them ereat men. These men are M. Bartley, a member of the legislature; Judge James Stewart, one of the ablest jurists of the state; Thomas W. Bartley. at one time governor of Ohio; Judge Jacob Brinkerhoff, the great legislator; Sam J. Kirkwood, who studied law in this county, afterward governor of Jowa, a United States senator and also held a cabinet portfolio; General William McLaughlin, the warrior; Thomas H. Ford, leutenant governor of 'Ohio; William Logan Harris, who became a bishop in the Methodist church; George W. Geddes, Barnabas Burns, A. M. Burns, M. D. Harter and Hon. John Sherman.

Mr. Kerr then selected M. Bartley, Judge Brinkerhoff and John Sherman as the greatest of the list. He gave in a forceful manner the services each did for his country.

The music for the afternoon was furnished by the Arion Singing society and the high school quartette, composed of Professor Albert Belling- Tham, Fred Langdon, Russell Vose and Russell Jelliff. The music was one of the best features of the program. The large crowd showed its interest by remaining throughout the afternoon and paying the closest attention.

I wish to thank the official board of Richland county historical society for the high honor of presiding as chairman this evening - closing the exercises for the centennial celebration of the city of Mansfield, the home 'of my infancy, childhood, manhood and mv present residence.

It is quite probable that no subject at this time is more discussed. and of more interest to the average citizen than good roads. At least the mar- -velous advance made in transportation.

The hills of our country made an elevated dry path for the buffalo and. other wild animals, and followed by the Indians across the vast wilderness. The roads from the East were slowly chopped out, and they invariably followed the old path, winding with the hills thus avoiding the low wet marshy land located in the valleys. This accounts for the public highways being on high ground and being more or less curved.

Early in the present century the cattle were driven through to Philadel-- phia. I have heard Robert Bentley, my grandfather, say that on his annual trips he would be absent from home six months. Now with our railroad facilities a shipper in Chicago with a full train load of cattle will start on Monday, reach the eastern market on Wednesday, returning to Chicago early Saturday morning.

We understand the early pioneers were an industrious citizenship. They were a brotherhood of the highest order. There was little money in north central Ohio, some little products of the farm could be exchanged at the village store.

The families lived largely within themselves, but little time could begiven to bridge, building or slightly improving the roads. It has been a long hard struggle to fully open up the roads of our country.

The pioneers of this vicinity were very much elated by an act of the legislature, February 4, 1825, which marks the beginning of the construction period of the Ohio canals. They were hopeful the Killbuck branch, as: surveyed would pass up the Rockfork of the Mohican, thus passing through Mansfield to Sandusky. Time goes on apace. They were disappointed, but we discovered that those towns favored by the Ohio canals are but little if any in advance of our beloved queen city.

Our attention was turned to the building of steam railroads. The Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark, now Baltimore & Ohio, the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago, now the Pennsylvania Company, Atlantic & Great Western, now the Erie.

Our country highways. The main roads with the connecting lateral cross: roads have in recent years been kept in the best possible condition, with the material at hand we now have the assurance of a great advance in road making.

Our township trustees are issuing bonds, Mansfield is meeting the township improvements, the county commissioners are paying a certain per cent, the state legislature is appropriating money, and the general government has: come forward with a liberal issue of bonds for the betterment of the public: roads.

We hope the day is not far distant when it can be said that the streets and roads in Mansfield and Richland county are all in first class condition.

The question of fuel supply during the early march of progress in Richland county, was given little thought. The old cabin home with its spacious fire place gave ample place for the back logs, the front log with the center finer wood thus furnishing heat for cooking and warming the home of one room, the kitchen, parlor and bedroom. As the woods yielded to the ax of the pioneer wood for fuel became a commodity of value in the country.

The coal supply in some sections has been mined out, but following close, when our faith was possibly growing a little weak looking into the future for a fuel, the good Lord has given us a natural gas from the earth, in such abundant supply as to meet every condition.

The great increase in population in towns and cities calls for light, heat, and power. Today electricity meets the demand, one small wire entering a home conveys the electric current that is so controlled that it supplies light, heat or power

The old red schoolhouse is passing, but rising in its stead is the modern school building, the ward school, the high school and spacious college building.

The time is at hand for active citizenship, the God of our fathers will aid and strengthen that people who will show an effort to help themselves.

Hon. O. E. Randall of Columbus spoke on Ohio, past, present and future. He gave the early history of the races that struggled for supremacy in America. Ohio was the battle ground on which the French, English and the Indians contested for mastery in thé Ohio valley. Mr. Randall pointed out the lessons taught by these makers of history.

The speaker told of the important part Ohio men plaved in the Spanish- American war and the Ohio diplomats who negotiated the peace. Mr. Randall said it was impossible to get away from Ohio.

The speaker next spoke of the important part Ohio men took in putting down the Boxer uprising in China. It was an Ohio man, General Chaffee, who commanded the allies. Obio men also played an important role in readjusting conditions after the war and preserved China as a nation.

Peter Bissman, the next speaker, spoke of the business and the business men of Mansfield. Mr. Bissman's talk was short but he had condensed a great deal of the business history of the city into a few: terse sentences.

Mr. Bissman divided the business history of Mansfield into four epochs: the first saw the establishment of the retail business. Sam Martin was the first business man of Mansfield. He was succeeded by Levi Jones, who conducted a general store on the H. L. Reed corner. Fredericktown was then the market for all the products of Mansfield and vicinity. There was a distillery there and the produce was all taken to this place and exchanged for whisky or other commodities.

The first epoch of Mansfield's business career saw the development of the hotels. John Wiler was the pioneer of this business and laid the foundation. It was for this man that the Wiler House was named. James Purdy was another prominent man who belonged to this period.

To the second epoch belong the development of the railroads and the fire departments. Dr. Bushnell raised one hundred and fifty dollars for the first fire department. The completion of the first railroad changed the market of Mansfield's products from Fredericktown to Pittsburg and other eastern cities. The Sturges. Hedges and the Bushnells were prominent in the development of this epoch.

The third period of Mansfield's history saw the development of the banking system) and the last period saw the development of the wholesale industry.

The progran: was shortened by the absence of Verner Z. Reed of Colorado Springs. a former Mansfield man, who was to have spoken on home coming but was unable to get here.

The Historical Society. which had charge of the celebration, feel well repaid for their efforts in bringing about this home coming and celebration.

The first citv directory of Mansfield was published in 1858 - just fifty years ago. It wax compiled by C. S. Williams and contained about one hundred pages and one thousand four hundred and fifteen names. Of the persons therein named less than one hundred are now living.

The postoffice was on the west side of Main street, between Third and Fourth streets - Wiler House block. The postmaster was Jacob Reisinger, and the office hours were from 7 a. m. to 8 p. m.

The Churches

The names of the then officers of the city government are given. I. W. Littler, mayor; Mansfield H. Gilkinson. marshal: Zalmon S. Stocking. treasurer; L. B. Matson, solicitor: Jacob Brown. engineer; H. P. Davis. clerk: councilmen, J. H. Cook, president; R. C. Smith. Hubbard Colby. John Wise. Frederick Wise, George W. Sheets, B. Burns. William Mellvain.

The city board of education consisted of B. Burns. president: H. P. Davis, clerk; W. C. Catlin. superintendent: Uzziel Stevens and H. C. Hedges. Mrs. M. E. Catlin was principal. Miss Maria Parsons. assistant and Rev. J. Rowland, classical teacher in the high school. while five priniaries. five ~econdaries and one central grammar school sufficed to furnish school facilities for Mansfield's pupils.

The following are named among the "public buildings and halls:" Bowland's block. Cantwell': building. Commercial block. Melodeon hall. Wilkinson's building, Weldon house building. location or site of which is known only to older citizens today.

The town was rich in military organizations of the 16th Division Ohio Volunteers, James Cantwell, major general: Z. S. Stocking. inspector; Gaylord McFall, quartermaster general; B. Burns. judge advocate.

There were two banks, the Farmers and Sturges bank, a Mansfield Library association and a Young Men's Christian association, of which the directors were J. M. Cantwell, E. S. Hiestand. M. Bowers, W. Burr, R. Brinkerhoff, Seth C. Hickox, J. Trimble and Thomas McCormick.

The directory lists at that time as engaged in the drv goods trade. Avery & Askew, Henry Endly, E. & C. Hedges, P. Remy & Co.. T. J. Robinson. H. R. Smith, Strong, Hetrick & Lang, Sturges & Co., N. Tucker and Weldon & Denman.

The lawyers of that day were Burns & Dickey, Carpenter & Gass, James Cobean, Davis & Smith. D. Dirlam, Ford & Bowles, Jeffries Hudson. Wil-

The grocers (wholesale) were E. Clapp, McFall & Co., W. F. Spice & Son and James Dickson, the latter with the following being retailers: Philip -\rras, Timothy Casey. J. & T. Costin, Joseph Huber, John Krause. Jacob Krill, Jacob Krumm, Adam Matthes, Joseph Redrup, Andrew Reman, G. P. Rowley & Co., T. U. Schmid, Christopher Sunkel, Henry Voegele and Louis Vonhof.

The late Senator Sherman with the late David Emminger. under the firm name of Emminger & Sherman, were lumber dealers and had a planing mill which still stands on the east side of Main a little south of Fifth.

The hotels were the Exchange, the Franklin, the St. Charles, the Phoenix. the Mansfield Junction Dining Hall, the Station, the Wiler, the Weldon and the North American.

Tn the boot and <hoe trade were Peter Ackerman, C. M. Curtis, Philip Denzer. Jacob Drackert, Keixer, Emig & Co., Keiser & Wolford. H. R. Smith, and Robert Weiskotten.

G. H. Dougherty. John Heib, Samuel McCrory, McCullough & Risser, M. L. Miller. T. Paisley and Adam Seibert were those who as tailors formed the mold of fashions of those days.

The hotels have already been mentioned but there were also boarding houses and the list of those conducting them was as follows: Mansion House, A\. R. Pool: Mrs. Elizabeth Blair. Mrs. Annetta S. Burr, Mrs. Mary Frazer, Mrs. Mary Hoke, Mrs. Mary Robbins and F. .\. Thomas.

Those conducting the dressmaking establishments were: Misses V. and S. Coates. Miss H. Ingersoll. Mrs. C. C. Kellogg & Co., Miller & Super, Miss N. J. Stewart.

The venerable Levi Zimmerman is named as the only ¢»ppersmith in the citv: Laban Roberts. edge tool manufacturer; Mrs. Mary (+. Lemon. dyer; C. C. Keech and H. L. King, hats. caps and furs; Reason Nail, ice dealer;

Seth W. Eells. ink manufacturer: Henry Bletz, Michael Dell. R. H. Grubaugh and J. Kk. Mooney. coopers; Thomas Bros., Frederick Becker and Herman Grater, bakers: candy manufacturer. E. Clapp: Harvey & Long and Joseph Lithner, brewers; Frederick Christman, carpet weaver: George Coher. bellows manufacturer; John Leiter, bath house: M. Day and Joseph Ritter. tanners; Andrew Boughton, veterinary surgeon: Jacob Arting. A. Lord. Isaac Pleasants and William Stewart, barbers; Thomaz= Robert=. coal dealer: R. MeCoinb Co., Sturges & Tracy and Thaver Bros., commission merchants: John Rickets and Hiram Wheeler, gunsmiths: Mrs. Marv Myers. laundress: Josiah Larimer, Reed & Underwood and Snyder & Morrow, liveryinen; Mefall & Co., liquors wholesale; onmibus line. Poole & Scott: Cole & Conant. music store: Isaac B. Hoffer, George Laver & Son, John Metzger. meat stores: S. Downing. Xaver Oeven, Joseph N. Snyder and A. Wright. painters: D. Carlisle, Mrs. L. A. Dayis, Loranger & Newman and A. Whissemore. photographers: Philp Gardener, rope maker.

Among various other of the tradesmen and artisans mentioned were these: H. Dufrainoit, wig maker: William H. Harrix and Jacob Straub. wagon makers: M. P. Howlett. shingle machine maker: William TD. McBride. pension agent: L. B. Matson. notary public: Stevens Bros.. inattress manufacturers: jewelry. watches. etc. John A. Lee. R. P. Micks. Patterson Wilkinson: gas fixtures, John N. Mowry: civil engineer. Jacob Brown: P. Spadaccini. ornamental plaster worker: Jacol) Steinruck. produce: George Shambs, cigar and tobacco manufacturer: Ebenezer W. Smith. general agent American Bible society; Jonas Smith, deputy county auditor.

John B. Netscher and T. W. Schmid conducted bilhard rooms and the then "coffee houses'' were operated by John Klein and John B. Netscher. F. A. Thomas had an eating saloon. J. Sayre was an egg packer. Caesar Schneeweiss was a clerk who boarded at the Weldon house.

Bernhard Sens, tailor: Constantine Seman. dravman; John E. Shea. cabinet maker: Henry Shellembarger. teacher: Lowry Sibbett. steward of Mansfield Female Seminary, and Mrs. M. .\. Stokes, milliner. are among the names and occupations given of many of those familiar to the older citizens

There is not a city'in the state more easily reached than is Mansfield. I: is centrally located, being seventy-seven miles from Cleveland. sixty milefrom Sandusky, sixty-seven miles from Columbus. eighty-seven miles from Toledo. one hundred and eighty-four miles from Cincinnati. one hundred and seventy-five miles from Pittsburg and one hundred and forty-five miles from Ft. Wayne.

Four steam railroads enter the city from the four corners of the state. The Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago route of the Pennsylvania system. the Erie and B. & O. (all three trunk lines). and the Totedo. Walhonding Vallev and Ohio (which connects the Ft. Wayne route with the Panhandle a trunk line) and the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad at Coshocton.

sixty-three miles southeast of Mansfield. On these four roads there are forty-six passenger trains in and out of Mansfield every twenty-four hours.

Mansfield also has three electric interurban railroads - the Cleveland Southwestern - which connects Mansfield with Crestline. Galion and Bucyrus on the west. and with .\shland on the east; the Mansfield-Shelby line connects Mansfield with the Big Four at Shelby. as the Southwestern also does with Crestline and Galion. The Mansfield-Shelby line connects at Shelby with the Sandusky. Norwalk and Mansfield line to Norwalk and to points on the lake.

-\ number of other lines are in prospect with work already commenced on some of them. notably the line being built from Mansfield to Wooster. Every morning during the past -ummer a fine trolley car left Mansfield a: 130 a. m.. running through without change to Sandusky and the lake: this was over the Cleveland & Lake Shore road. Mansfield is destined to become the great trolley line center of north-central Ohio.

Mansfield ix the highest (in elevation) of any city in the state, one thousand feet above the sea level. and a city of about twenty-four thousand people and covering about three thousand acres of ground. about one hundred and ten of which are in parks owned and maintained by the eity, one of which is at the edge of the city and contains eighty-six acres. and one in the center of the city of about one and one-half acres. Also two private parks (free admission) with the usual amusements.

The purest city drinking water (mnety-two per cent) in the state. direct from artesian wells. with ample supply for domestic and fire purposes, with a pumping station owned and operated by the city with forty miles of water mains.

A fire department with three stations strictly modern. with seventy-one fire alarm boxes. forty-one miles of fire alarm telegraph wire and two hundred and fifty-six fire hydrants.

\. high school building costing $150,000 and eight modern ward school huildings. with a corps of one hundred and eight teachers and two thousand eight hundred and sixty-three pupils. The modern kindergarten building of the state. .\ model of this building was made by the Ohio commission for the Jamestown exposition, for exhibition at the exposition as the model of Ohio kindergarten buildings, and is now part of the permanent educational exhibit at the Ohio State University at Columbus.

A. $75.000 soldiers' and sailors' memorial building, containing a public reading room and library and an opera house seating one thousand five hundred people, owned by the city and township.

One hundred and fifty manufactures employing about four thousand employes and manufacturing stoves. pumps. bath room supplies, plumbing supplies, brass goods, electric railway. light and power machinery. buggies. wagons, harrows, threshers, separators, engines. boilers, gloves, suspenders. elastic webbing, candy, crackers, cigars. flour. watch cases, bed springs and mattresses, barber chairs, show cases. washing machines. safety valves, etc.. and shipping their products all over the world.

Three large wholesale groceries, also wholesale drug. hardware. cigar. rubber boots and shoes. confectionery. flour. fruit. granite and marble. lumber, notions.

Tile Growl Of Siaanseeele

One hundred vears ago the land whereon Mansfield now stands was covered with the primitive forest. except a small clearing at the public square, at the northwest corner of which a cabin had been built.

Now,' instead of forest trees, there are the chimneys and smokestacks of shops and factories, and where the cabins stood there are now massive blocks of brick and stone and palatial residences flank our streety and avenues.

And the Mansfield of today has extensive factories, foundries. works and mills, whose products. adjuncts and cognate industries make the city one of the most flourishing in the state. And its railroad facilities are unsur- passed - three trunk lines crossing within our borders, with a fourth road extending from the coal fields of the southeast to the lake shore on the northwest. handling both the products of the mines and the iron ore and other commerce of the lakes.

-\mong the luxuries of the age, which we now look upon almost as necessities, are nine miles of street electric railway, electric lights, electric fire alarm, telephone, water works, an efficient fire department, free postal delivery, Memorial library building, free library, free museum, free reading rooms, attractive parks and enterprising daily newspapers.

And these are not all, for Mansfield has forty miles of paved (asphalt, brick and macadam) streets. making it one of the best paved towns in the country. and the streets are so =~mooth and clean that pedestrians can take to metropolitan ways and cross streets anywhere. Bicycles and vehicles abound and loyers of riding and driving can complacently look back to the mud roads and cobbled streets of ten years ago. During the summer season a great deal of "outing" is enjoved. and those whe have wheels or conveyances of their own take long rides along the pleasant driveways which allure them on through the city to the park, whose shady, winding avenues present panoranic-like views. fresh and joyous from nature.

The topography of the ground upon which Mansfield is built. and its undulating surface make the view of the city from either of its surrounding hills picturesque and enhancing. And art has combined with nature to make Mansfield one of the most attractive of Ohio cities.

A. stranger coming to Mansfield will here find people as hospitable. refined and intelligent as those of any other community in the country; a order and the rights of our fellow citizens; a people educated and cultured, such as would command prominence in the soctal, intellectual, professional, business and political walks of any city in .\merica.

Public progress ix stamped ou every feature of the city, and its enterprises are as boundless as the material resources of the county are prolific.

In a paper read before the annual meeting of the Fifty Thousand League, May 24, 1898, Emmett C. Baxter gave a tabulated exhibit of the manufacturing output of Mansfield, by which it is shown that we ship annually from our mills, foundries and factories: One hundred and eighty thousand barrels of four, fifty thousand barrels of crackers, seventy-five thousand iron pumps, twenty-four thousand heating and cook stoves, five hundred threshing and separating machines, two hundred clover hullers, six hundred farm engines, one hundred thousand horse power of steam: boilers. twelve thousand farm harrows, fifteen million cigars, two million four hundred thousand pairs of suspenders.

The above does not include the outputs of many other shops and numerous other items that it would be almost impossible to ascertain and classify.

The sum total of the shipments stated amount annually to $6,375,000. The pay rolls of these shops amount to $88,000 a month - $1,056,000 a year. These figures do not include the income and expenditure of the smaller factories, shops. stores and the newspaper offices.

The shops from which Mr. Baxter got reports employ over two thousand seven hundred hands and estimating that the family of each of these employes average four persons, these shops support a grand army of over ten thousand people.

The figures given of Mansfield's manufacturing output are only from seven or eight of the largest firms of over one hundred and forty factories, many of which are acknowledged to be the best in the country.

In the wholesale trade, Mansfield being an excellent shipping point, the grocery line alone amounts to $2,000,000 annually. And the jobbing hardware, queensware and other branches are not far behind.

The clearing house reports a business of $4,982,040.02 for the year 1898, and two banks are not in the association, and their business is not included in these figures.

As a place for holding conventions Mansfield offers advantages unequaled by any other inland city in Ohio, being centrally located and having railroad facilities and excellent hotel accommodations.

The Parks

Central Park, formerly called the public square. is in the central part of the city, well dotted with shade trees, and in its center is a fountain, both useful and ornamental, whose draughts are seemingly made more cooling and refreshing by the aesthetic surroundings. as the spray casts a rainbow halo overhead and the perfume of flower= gladden the air from the four urns of the fountain's rim. The soldiers' =tatue-monument. facing the west, now typifies a new meaning and verifies the prophetic words of Thomas H. Benton, who, pointing to the west, exclaimed: 'There ix the east and there is the road to India!' Hawaii and the Philippine Island< are already ours. At an angle from the fountain and monument. forming a triad. is the band stand, from which free concerts are given on summer evenings. Seats are placed around and among the trees for the convenience of the public.

The Sherman-Heineman park. adjoining the city on the west. comprises eighty acres, twenty-five of which are of native forest. The park commissioners had the ground laid out by a landscape gardener. and there are vearly appropriations for its further improvement and maintenance. This park is a favorite place for picnic parties. society social< and family gatherings. There are artificial lakes, well-kept walks and over =1x miles of improved driveways, and the grounds are reached by two lines of electric ears. At the end of the West Fourth street car line there ix a modern casino with a seating capacity for one thousand five hundred people.

The grounds surrounding the casino are called Casino park. south and west of which is Luna park, run by a private company in the interest of amusements. At the south end of the Sherman-Heineman park certain land has been obtained, a drive-way opened through the same and an artificial lake made, of considerable area. and this new part of the park bids fair to be the most attractive of all. Some years ago a tract of land in Johns' addition to the city of Mansfield was donated by the heirs of the late Benjamin Johns for park purposes. There was some misunderstanding between the donors and the city in regard to the transfer of the park property. This, it is hoped, will be settled satisfactorily to all parties, for, on account of the commanding situation of the land. Johns' park can be made one of the most handsome and attractive of our numerous parks.

Charles F. Ackerman recently laid out an addition to the city on South Main street. -\ beautiful tract of ground in the center of the addition has been given for a park.

During the summer of 1908 the school board gave the use of the Hedges street school grounds for park purposes, and the same was equipped with electric lights, benches. etc., and is a favorite pleasure resort for the people of the southeast part of the city. The grounds are large, making the park a commodious one.

The fact that an average of two hundred freight and forty passenger trains pass through the city daily shows the magnitude of the railroad traffic to, from and through Mansfield.

Mansfield is supplied with water by the Holly system from springs and artesian wells. and has over forty-five miles of mains. The plant is owned by the city and the water supply is as pure as the best and unlimited.

Official reports of mortality in different cities of the country, showing the number of deaths in each one thousand of population, are as follows:

Mansfield is situated on the crest of the great divide with an altitude of six hundred and fifty-seven feet above the lake and one thousand feet above the sea. and is one of the coolest cities in Ohio and one of the most healthful in the United States.

In the residence line. Mansfield's growth has not only consisted of elegant homes on fashionable avenues, but also of cozy cottages whose various designs have apparently exhausted the ingenuity of architects in that they are unique, artistic and dissimilar, thus verifying the old apothegm, 'There': beauty in variety." But over and above all elze, they are homes largely owned and occupied by permanent citizens.

For a place of residence, the sagacious man selects a location which combines health, good society and business advantages. Mansfield has all these, and more. It has churches and schools, such as one would expect to find amoung a people that stand in the fore in morals and culture, and the embellishments of the homes and surroundings attest the refined taste of a prosperous, happy and contented people.

The Eleyation Of Mansfield

Roy Antibus, civil engineer with the engineering corps of the Cleveland, Ashland & Mansfield Traction Company, recently ascertained the elevation of Mansfield. A government party making a topographical survey of this part of the country had been in and around Ashland for some time and was also more recently in Mansfield. While here they made "bench" marks and since then certain data has been secured from them from which it is ascertained that the elevation of Central park, Mansfield, is one thousand two hundred and forty-one and four-tenths feet above sea level.

The elevation of Mansfield above Lake Erie, as shown on the profile of the Erie railroad, is five hundred and eighty-one feet; on the profile of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad the elevation of Mansfield is given as six hundred and fifty-seven feet, and on the Pennsylvania road it is given as five hundred and ninety-two feet; part of the difference being due to the different elevations of the localities through which the railroads pass in the city.

Favorable Impressions Of Mansfield

The editor of the Ashtabula Beacon-Record was so well pleased with Mansfield, upon a recent visit here, that upon his return home he published in that paper, of March 26, 1908, the following complimentary article:

A visit to Mansfield, the county seat of Richland county. afforded surprise and exceptional pleasure. Crowning several hills, from a distance the city affords a very imposing view. Passing through its streets, one 1s impressed by the evidence of care, cleanliness, comfortable homes. wealth, culture, refinement and business activity. The people are thrifty. alert, enterprising and, while conservative, progressive. The municipality ranks among the best of the smaller municipalities in which Ohio is so highly favored. The population is about twenty-three thousand.

Through the thoughtfulness and courtesy of an appreciated volunteer committee from among the Elks, a much enjoyed opportunity was afforded to "do" the city in one of the best of White's steam auto cars. That meant a quick and smooth ride, thirteen miles in forty minutes. The first point visited was where many end a career, to pause, take breath, reflect and turn a new leaf for a better record - the reformatory. This is a very imposing building with its lofty towers, minarets and gables, but it is not at all likely that those who are consigned there are impressed by its architectural features, these are for the free to enjoy. Over eight hundred are now detained in the institution, the largest number ever reached. Ashtabula county is represented by several of the inmates. It is to be hoped that when they are given

Brick and asphalt pavements are largely in use. Many of the streets are harrow, as is the case in so many of the older Buckeye towns, but in the summer they must be beautiful with the color and shade of an abundance of trees. In many instances the homes, as a rule, commodious and ornate, are In the midst of extensive lawns. In recent years large plats have been added to the city and in several cases the residences erected thereon have been of a very costly character. This is particularly true of the Sherman sub-division, where this year ~ome twenty-four or thirty palatial houses are to be reared. Mansfield, by the way, has not been a sufferer from the late financial stringency.

-\ very attractive feature for park purpo-es ix the Sherman-Heineman park. It is an ideal spot for such a use, nature's designer having made it attractive with beautiful undulations and ravines. .\nd, then, there has evidently been a generous allowance of funds for man's supplemental work in artistic roads and landscape effect=. .\djacent to this alluring breathing >pace there is also a private resort with a great variety of amusement features. Mansfield people have reason to be proud of this recreation spot.